Walt Whitman was 37 when he published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Before that, he worked as a typesetter a reporter/editor and a schoolteacher, among other things. Yet, suddenly, in 1855 he wrote and self-published the first edition of Leaves of Grass and spent the rest of his life rewriting and expanding this same book.
Peruse the biographical information included in Resources and speculate on what might have motivated him to make this momentous change.
The poem went through several different versions and names:
This 1855 version of Song of Myself was untitled.
The 1856 version was called "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American"
The 1860, 1867 and 1871 editions simply called it "Walt Whitman"
In 1881 it was finally given the title of Song of Myself
Is the character named Walt Whitman in Song of Myself the same person as the poet?
Why or why not?
Does that character's role in the poem change as Whitman changes the poem over time?
Critical Questions on Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman was 37 when he published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Before that, he worked as a typesetter a reporter/editor and a schoolteacher, among other things. Yet, suddenly, in 1855 he wrote and self-published the first edition of Leaves of Grass and spent the rest of his life rewriting and expanding this same book.
Peruse the biographical information included in Resources and speculate on what might have motivated him to make this momentous change.
The poem went through several different versions and names:
- This 1855 version of Song of Myself was untitled.
- The 1856 version was called "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American"
- The 1860, 1867 and 1871 editions simply called it "Walt Whitman"
- In 1881 it was finally given the title of Song of Myself
Is the character named Walt Whitman in Song of Myself the same person as the poet?- Why or why not?
- Does that character's role in the poem change as Whitman changes the poem over time?
- Speculate on what might mean either way.
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